Manhattan Project veteran among those honored in Jeffersontown

6:32 PM,
Nov. 10, 2013

John Wright, center, receives the second ever awarded 'Going the Extra Mile' award from Jeffersontown mayor Bill Dieruf, left, during the 18th Annual Jeffersontown Veterans Day Program held at the Jeffersontown Community Center. The event was hosted by American Legion G.I. Joe Post 244 and the City of Jeffersontown and featured patriotic music, special recognition of Korean War veterans and keynote speaker Chaplain (Col.) David Graetz, Kentucky Army National Guard. Nov. 10, 2013

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Andy Eckles joined the United States Army in 1943 at age 17, and volunteered to join a security detail for a project being carried out in Los Alamos, N.M.

That turned out to be the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the invention of the atomic bomb and, after two of them were dropped on Japan, the end of World War II - not to mention the start of the Atomic Age.

"I sat in on seminars by (Robert) Oppenheimer and (Seth) Neddermeyer, and of course I didn't understand any of it," said Eckles, 87, as he walked into the 18th annual Veterans Day Program, held Sunday afternoon at Jeffersontown Veterans ...